


YSMIR

by endrega_Turtlesse



Series: Amnesiac Bucky Barnes 'Verse [4]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Amnesiac Bucky Barnes, Bot Family, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Plans, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-World War II Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, because I can't write otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:40:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22867255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endrega_Turtlesse/pseuds/endrega_Turtlesse
Summary: YSMIR(do not attempt to recreate at home)First, take twenty to thirty tablespoons of challenge. Sprinkle it with a pinch of bet, and add some brotherly competition according to your taste and a slice of one-upmanship. Let it sit and stew, then, at the critical moment, add it to a nightmare-fueled, sleep-deprived inventing binge. Be sure to separate it from any moderating influence, or it won't produce the desired effect. Finally, pour it into a genius, and wait.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Jarvis (Iron Man movies), James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark
Series: Amnesiac Bucky Barnes 'Verse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617277
Comments: 3
Kudos: 109
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Some Things Shouldn't Be a Chore](https://archiveofourown.org/works/381185) by [scifigrl47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifigrl47/pseuds/scifigrl47). 
  * Inspired by [Ordinary Workplace Hazards, Or SHIELD and OSHA Aren't On Speaking Terms](https://archiveofourown.org/works/389598) by [scifigrl47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifigrl47/pseuds/scifigrl47). 



> This follows directly after "Resolution (STEVE!)". In which we get to meet the roomba Tony was working on. Also, in which I finally feel like I'm not ignoring the fact that Bucky is pre-WS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name of piece: YSMIR  
> Name of participant: endrega23  
> Card number: 3097  
> Square number and prompt: A2 - dark  
> Rating: General Audiences  
> Pairing: Tony Stark / James "Bucky" Barnes, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes & Jarvis (Iron Man movies)  
> Warnings: no archive warnings apply  
> Summary: YSMIR  
> (do not attempt to recreate at home)  
> First, take twenty to thirty tablespoons of challenge. Sprinkle it with a pinch of bet, and add some brotherly competition according to your taste and a slice of one-upmanship. Let it sit and stew, then, at the critical moment, add it to a nightmare-fueled, sleep-deprived inventing binge. Be sure to separate it from any moderating influence, or it won't produce the desired effect. Finally, pour it into a genius, and wait.

The workshop was dark, bathed in shadows from the lights of a few holograms. It was quiet, too; almost eerily so. There was always some kind of sound, usually more than most could bear. Music blaring, tools clanging, Tony and JARVIS bickering, the bots causing mayhem; but not this time. DUM-E, Butterfingers and U were silent shadows in their charging stations, unmoving. JARVIS was silent, too, though the faintest hum of the machines powering him could still be heard. Almost silent, on the edge of human hearing, but there.

Tony hunkered under a workstation, trying to make himself as small as possible, to keep his breathing and even his heartbeat silent. He had been there for thirty minutes at least, though without JARVIS it was hard to say. He didn’t know how much longer he’d have to stay there, but his knees had already started protesting.

There. The faintest whir. Wheels? Yes, probably.

Tony slowly turned his head, but the three bots hadn’t moved. Not them, then.

The whirring came closer, now distinctly identifiable as wheels. It was accompanied by soft clicking, and something brushing the ground.

Tony winced. That was not a good sound.

He froze, trying to make it harder to find him.

No point, though.

Suddenly, a harsh light lit up the space, momentarily blinding Tony.

Tony sighed.

“No, buddy,” he shook his head. “We agreed that no lights, remember?”

Sad chirping.

“It doesn’t matter that you ‘knew’ where I was. Your task was to tap me on the shoulder.”

Sad chirping, and Tony could feel himself melting. Oh, to hell with the rules.

“Okay, okay, come here. You still deserve your treat.”

The chirping turned excited at once, and Tony couldn’t stop the fond smile tugging at his mouth. The light blinked out, and Tony had to take a few moments to adjust.

“JARVIS, lights at thirty percent, please” he requested softly, and a soft light bathed the ‘shop. In front of Tony, the small robot chirped up at Tony, reaching out with a claw.

“Here” Tony held out a screw, and the robot delicately picked it up with her pincer, reaching back to place it in her compartment. “Good job, buddy. You’re doing great. Now, let me take a look at you. One of your belly plates came loose, didn’t it?”

The robot chirped up at Tony guiltily.

“Yeah, I know, not your fault. You lot always say that. Okay, come here now.”

Tony carefully picked YSMIR up and turned her over. Yeah, her left belly plate was a bit loose, hanging just that bit too low.

“JARVIS, you have a record of how this happened?”

“Yes, sir. YSMIR bumped over the leg of the couch.”

“Hm. Her sensors didn’t pick it up?”

“I believe it was more that she did not care, lost in the game, sir. And she knew you would repair her.”

“Huh. Would you look at that.” Tony looked down at the bot. “YSMIR, you know your safety is first over any task, right? It’s more important than anything I tell you to do. Though I _will_ always repair you, you were correct in that. So good job on that count.”

YSMIR chirped up at him.

“Okay, then. Let’s fix your plating.”

\-------------------

A FEW WEEKS EARLIER

Steve left the workshop around six on Wednesday. Tony was pretty sure of that. Some time after that, Bucky had come down. Here, Tony was less sure of the timeline, but it was probably at least half a day later. He and JARVIS had made a deal not to let anyone interfere in his genius until he’d been working for at least twenty-four hours straight. (It was better than JARVIS’s first protocol – sixteen hours. Sixteen!) Considering that when Steve and his mental images (YUCK) had invaded Tony’s ‘shop (and mind, my god, for forever) he’d still been pretty lucid, that couldn’t have been after the twelve-hour mark, so, at least half a day until Bucky.

Tony had to admit that Bucky was devious. Not particularly successful, in the long run, since Tony was back down here, but that wasn’t Bucky’s fault. It was more the fault of the Ten Rings, and the wormhole, and- okay, not thinking about it. Avoiding works less if you start thinking about what you’re avoiding.

Point was, Bucky was devious. He’d come down with pizza (though not from that little family-run Italian pizzeria Tony escaped to when he’s had enough of being Tony Stark – god, let Bucky never learn of that place, or he’d be unstoppable. Okay, on reflection, let Bucky learn of that place. If Tony’s going to be bribed with pizza, it might as well be the good stuff,) and proceeded to distract Tony of his important work (the roomba was going to work, damn you, Rhodey!).

The upside of distractions, in Tony’s humble (and correct) opinion was what you were being distracted with. Whether that was pizza or stripper poles, it’d gotta be good to work on him, so win-win.

The downside of distractions, however, was that they worked. And by worked, Tony meant that they distracted him long enough to feel his body betraying him.

“You’re tired, doll.”

“No, I’m not!” Yawn.

“Yes, you are. You can barely keep your eyes open.”

“Lies and” yawn “slander! Lies” yawn “and sland-” yawn “-er…”

See? They worked.

Disgrace. That man had serious mother-hen instincts. Worse than Rhodey. Hell, worse than Pepper! (Okay, maybe not. Time will tell. But, please god, don’t let those two compare notes.)

Bucky had taken Tony to bed (and not even in the fun way!) and left him there. Despite Tony’s insistence on snuggling. Damn his forties sensibilities.

Upside of that, though, was that he hadn’t been there when Tony woke up. Screaming. He also hadn’t been there to stop Tony from coming back down to the ‘shop.

Thank god Tony had the foresight to lock down the workshop, because JARVIS, that traitor, informed Bucky. But, too late! Ha!

Then, some time had passed. This was where Tony’s grasp of the timeline waived a hat and left town amid a hail of bullets that were probably more antagonistic than friendly goodbye-bullets, but that just meant that the timeline wasn’t Tony’s problem any more.

Now, his problem was YSMIR.

Don’t misunderstand that!!

YMSIR was _great_. Like, better than great. Fantastic, even.

The problem was that after the incident with the coffee-maker (teeny, tiny incident, barely worth mentioning), Steve had banned sentient household items. Rude, that but Natasha had backed him up. Well, the others had, too, but that didn’t matter. Natasha was scary, though. _That_ mattered.

She threatened to dismember any and all sentient household items! And she would, too.

Therefore, problem.

Tony looked down at YSMIR.

YSMIR looked back up at him and chirped inquisitively.

“JARVIS?”

“Yes, sir?”

“What are the chances of Natasha dismembering YSMIR?”

A small pause, almost unnoticeable, of JARVIS running the numbers. Or laughing at him. Both equally possible.

Okay, scratch that, JARVIS didn’t need to pause to run the numbers. He was definitely laughing at Tony. Rude.

“I would say sixty percent, sir.”

“Only sixty?” Tony looked up. “That seems rather low.”

“While she usually follows through on her threats, she seems to have grown fond of you. Furthermore, she is also accepting of the bots, as long as they don’t impede on her space. I believe that was her issue in the coffee-maker incident. Therefore, I believe the chances of her following through on this particular threat are sufficiently moderated to consider introducing YSMIR to her in a controlled environment.”

“Huh.”

Tony looked down at YSMIR. She chirped up at him. He looked some more. Her chirps turned a bit confused.

Tony blinked.

Looked at the clock.

Oops.

He’d been staring for twenty minutes.

“Imma lie down, okay, JARVIS? Introduce her to-” Tony frowned. What was the word again? Meh. “stuff.”

“Of course, sir. Who would be better at introducing her to… Stuff.”

“Don’t be so sarcastic, Jay” Tony muttered, blinking.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, sir.”

Cheeky bastard.

“Only because you programmed me so, sir.”

Tony squinted at one of the cameras. “I did not program the sarcasm. That was all you, Jay.” He stood up and blinked some more. “Can’t say I’m not proud, though” he muttered.

“The couch is behind you, sir” JARVIS said, and Tony could have sworn his voice was warm.

Couch. Behind him. Right, okay.

Tony staggered over to the couch and fell face-down on it. He thought DUM-E pulled the blanket on him from the back of the couch, but even that was vague. Then, darkness.

\---------------

Bucky was going out of his mind. He will die of worry, and it will be Tony’s fault.

Okay, no, he wasn’t blaming Tony. He wasn’t sure if he should or not (Two days in lock-down, without a word? With the glass of the ‘shop darkened? In Bucky’s world that wasn’t okay, but then again, the others said Tony regularly pulled stints like that.), but he was sure he couldn’t anyway.

According to JARVIS, Tony had a nightmare maybe an hour after Bucky left him in bed (which, by the way, was hard. Bucky deserved some kind of medal for that). Then, he’d locked himself in the workshop less than a minute before Bucky had gotten there. Amazingly bad timing, that, but they really hadn’t known each other long enough to expect Tony to let Bucky comfort him. No matter how much Bucky wanted to.

So now here he was, camped out in front of the workshop, staring at black glass, his reflection looking back at him, slowly going mad.

“JARVIS?”

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?”

“Tell me Tony’s okay?”

“Sir is doing well, considering the circumstances.”

Same answer he’d gotten since he camped out here. Though, to be honest, Steve hadn’t gotten even that much. Privacy protocols, JARVIS had said. So Bucky figured he had the A.I. on his side.

(A.I. My God. The future was sure crazier than he ever could have imagined. Though, no flying cars. That was something he couldn’t forgive.)

Bucky sighed and shifted. He was getting hungry again, but he didn’t want to ask anyone to bring something down for him.

His metabolism was crazy, these days. He figured that was the Winter Soldier part of him, but he still felt a bit guilty about eating so much. Yeah, there were crazy amounts of food just _there_ , but that didn’t mean they could never go hungry if it somehow ran out. So Bucky tried to conserve food the best he could, but it was hard with how often he got hungry.

He was sure Steve had noticed, he was eating just as much, but he hadn’t yet said anything. He was eyeing Bucky more and more, though, so that discussion was coming, too.

When did Steve get so god-damned _earnest_? Maybe when everyone started treating him as Captain America instead of Steve Rogers. Things really have fallen apart without Bucky here. No matter, he’d just have to remind everyone of the little shit that Steve was.

He was sure Tony would be glad to help.

If only he would let him in.

“JARVIS?”

“There has been no change, Sergeant.”

Ugh. Bucky let his head fall back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling.

Huh. There was a weird patch there.

Bucky straightened up, craning his head back. What was-

He stood up and turned around, even standing on his toes to look at it from closer. There, just in the edge where the wall and the ceiling met.

“JARVIS, am I crazy?”

The A.I. hesitated, and Bucky smelled blood.

“I would not call you that, Sergeant. However, I can only guess what you are thinking.”

That was probably as good as confirmation, in JARVIS-speak, Bucky was learning. He eyed the small, suspiciously button-like plate. Still,

“And what would happen if I managed to hit it?”

Silence. Well, then.

Bucky backed up a couple of steps. He shouldn’t be able to jump that high, but his body didn’t exactly conform to logic anymore. He calculated the angle and crouched down a bit.

Okay, here we go.

Bucky pushed off the ground.

He easily reached the ceiling. A bit too easily.

“Ow!”

Okay, way too easily.

He basically ricocheted.

He lay on the ground for a moment, stunned and very glad that no one had seen him, but, well. He survived, didn’t he? Next time he’d know to use less force. Aand-

He looked to the left as the doors to the workshop swished open. Yes! He’d fist-bump, but, ow.

He did stick a leg out, though, into the way of the door. He sure didn’t want to jump again just now.

He sighed and pushed himself up. Ow, ow, ow. Okay. Ow.

“I am glad to see you haven’t killed yourself, Sergeant. Sir would be disappointed.”

Oh, shit. So much for no one having seen him.

“Tell me there’s no tape of that, JARVIS” Bucky groaned. The widespread use of video was one of the best and worst inventions of this age. Best, if it was of someone else. Worst, if it was of you.

“I can assure you that only sir has access to the surveillance tapes in this part of the building, unless it is declared a matter of Avengers business.”

Oh, hell, no. Stevie wasn’t seeing this. The punk would be insufferable.

So would be Clint.

Or, Sam, to be honest. Or Natasha, God.

Or Tony, really, but that _could_ be worth it if it made Tony laugh.

Not for any of the others.

“Okay, can we agree that it has nothing to do with Avengers business? And only call it to Tony’s attention if he really needs something to cheer him up?”

A moment, then “Indeed, sir.” Was that approving?

No matter.

Bucky pushed himself slowly off the ground. Huh. It already hurt less. Was that why Steve had insisted, after the serum, that bullets weren’t a concern?

Still, bullets made you bleed. He’d only smacked himself into the ceiling a bit. Steve was still the stupider.

The workshop was dark. The light coming in from the corridor was enough for Bucky, though, which was also a partially recent addition. (He was pretty sure it had been better after Azzano. Not to this extent, though, that was for sure.)

“JARVIS? Where’s Tony?”

“I would ask you to be quiet” JARVIS said, so low he was barely audible. “Sir is on the couch.”

On the… Ah.

Tony looked adorable. His face was peaceful, the ever-present lines smoothed out in his sleep. He had a blanket thrown haphazardly on him, and Bucky itched to straighten it out.

Well, there was nothing stopping him, was there?

Bucky was under no illusions that JARVIS couldn’t have stopped him, if he’d wanted to. So, he was basically here with permission, it just required a play-around of the rules.

Tony mumbled when he smoothed out the blanket, and Bucky froze for a moment. But, no, Tony just snuggled in deeper.

Yeah, Bucky was melting.

“How long has he been sleeping?” Bucky whispered.

“Around five hours” JARVIS replied. So not enough, then.

Would it be too creepy if Bucky stayed here? Let’s say he doesn’t stare at Tony, that should be acceptable, right? He just didn’t want to be locked out again. Yes, sure, now he knew how to get in, but he didn’t really fancy another jump. Better calculation of force or not.

Yeah, okay, he’d stay. He just needed to find a seat where he couldn’t stare at Tony like the creeper he was.

He turned. And jumped. Maybe squeaked a little.

“What the-”

The little robot chirped at him.

“That is YSMIR, Sergeant Barnes. She is pleased to meet you.”

“She-… Ys-” Bucky closed his eyes and rebooted his brain, as Tony would say. Okay, he could do this. It was just a robot.

Bucky crouched down. “Hello, Ysmir” he said softly. “I’m sorry for being a bit scared. I just wasn’t expecting a robot. Maybe I should have, since this is Tony’s workshop and all. I’m Bucky.”

The robot – Ysmir – chirped at him, and – Bucky melted here – extended a claw.

“Hello” Bucky laughed softly, shaking it.

“YSMIR have been created by Sir a few hours ago” JARVIS spoke up. “She is very new to this world.”

“Aww, so you’re a baby” Bucky cooed.

Ysmir inched closer and Bucky bent down to look at her more closely. There, on her side was her name. It was all in capital letters, though.

“JARVIS, does Ysmir’s name mean something? Like yours?”

“Indeed it does, Sergeant.” And JARVIS sounded approving, again. “It is an acronym for Your Slightly Messy Intelligent Roomba. Sir’s original intent was to prove to Colonel Rhodes that he could create a well-working roomba, but he may have gone overboard when he became severely sleep-deprived.”

Bucky frowned. “What is a roomba?”

\-----------------

Tony blinked awake slowly to the sound of low voices and near-constant whirring and several sets of chirping. What-?

He groaned, and the voices cut off.

“Hey, Tony” Bucky’s voice said, and that didn’t make sense. He’d fallen asleep in the workshop, didn’t he? Actually, he was sure he did. He’d recognize this couch, no matter what, he spent too many nights (or whatever-time-of-the-day-when-he-fell-asleeps) on it not to. He was also pretty sure he’d shut down the ‘shop, and if he was asleep and not actively dying in his sleep (passively didn’t count, they hammered that down during the palladium poisoning fiasco) then JARVIS had no reason to override it.

“What are you doing here” Tony muttered without opening his eyes. All he got was silence, though, so he made the sacrifice to open his eyes. Huh. The workshop was pleasantly dark, but light enough so that he could see. And what he saw was Bucky’s sheepish face.

“Bucky? No, scratch that, Jay?”

“Sergeant Barnes has found the emergency hatch for the door, sir. He had spent the last four hours entertaining the bots.”

Ohh. Aww. And also, a bit of ughh. Because one, that must have been cute as shit, but also, come on. No one was supposed to ‘find’ the emergency hatch. Only Rhodey was supposed to know about it, so that he could “pull Tony’s ass out of there” (his words, not Tony’s) if JARVIS was shut down again and Tony couldn’t get out of the ‘shop for some reason. Mostly centering around being incapacitated.

“Okay, one” Tony raised a finger, “that’s adorable. Two” he added another, “that’s a gross violation of privacy because adorable. And three” he added a third and then stopped. “No, wait, there’s no third. Ugh, okay” Tony leaved himself up. “How’s YSMIR doing?”

Bucky was doing that amused thing with his face, which shouldn’t have been allowed. It should have offended Tony, deeply, like when Rhodey, the traitor, did it, but no. No, instead his chest felt all kinds of warm for amusing Bucky. Traitors, those too.

“YSMIR is doing all right, sir. Sergeant Barnes has been patiently teaching her, which she is picking up with remarkable speed. The other bots like her, too.”

“Sure they do, why wouldn’t they. She is a precious ball of adorable, everyone will like her. Possibly even Natasha, when she gets over the fact that I created another sentient household item. Although, we could just claim that she’s a helper bot, and never explain her name. What do you say, Jay?” Tony asked, crossing the room.

“Sir, your cunning knows no bounds. However, Sergeant Barnes already knows where her name comes from, and I doubt that Agent Romanoff will not notice her primary function. Which puts her in the ‘household’ category, even if she does fit the category of ‘robot’ more than ‘item’. As I’m sure you agree, sir.”

“Okay, one” Tony crouched down in front of the four bots (well, mainly YSMIR, but the others were there, too). “One, why does Bucky know the origin of the name, or more like it, why did you tell him. I haven’t said you could tell it to anyone. Two, Natasha notices everything, but sometimes she likes me enough to pretend she doesn’t, which is what I’ve been banking on.” Tony opened YSMIR’s compartment. It was full of screws, tiny ones, which called for a “Three, tell me these screws weren’t from the good collection.”

“JARVIS told me because I asked” Bucky walked into Tony’s field of view and crouched down behind YSMIR.

“And you haven’t forbidden me from telling him, either” JARVIS added.

“As for your second point, JARVIS pointed me towards the left-over screws” Bucky continued. “YSMIR just picked out all the tiny ones. We’ve been practicing picking things up. And speeding. Basically we've been playing catch, only YSMIR refuses to pick up the big screws, even though they fit into her pincers, I checked.” Bucky looked adorably frustrated for a moment, then he shrugged. "So the other bots introduced themselves and got involved. I gotta tell you, they're pretty swell."

Tony stared at Bucky. “Okay, you are officially in the family” he blurted out.

“The… family?” Bucky frowned. Oh, shit. Tony hadn’t really meant to say that?

“The bot family. Okay, come on” Tony sprung up, to hell with his old knees, “I need to figure out how to explain YSMIR to the team. You’ll help.”

Tony wasn’t afraid to admit he basically sprinted to his workspace. Okay, he won’t admit it aloud, but he wasn’t afraid to admit it to himself. But, distraction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will have at least one more chapter, maybe more (we just need to establish YSMIR's existence in the Tower without any dismembering), but I wanted to get this up. I'll try to finish it as soon as I can, but a deadline is nearing, so I might not be able to do it this week. Point is, don't worry if it's late, it's coming xx


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished my report, so have a chapter! Yay!
> 
> Name of piece: YSMIR  
> Name of participant: endrega23  
> Card number: 3097  
> Square number and prompt: E4 - anticipation  
> Rating: General Audiences  
> Pairing: Tony Stark / James "Bucky" Barnes, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes & Jarvis (Iron Man movies)  
> Warnings: no archive warnings apply  
> Summary: YSMIR  
> (do not attempt to recreate at home)  
> First, take twenty to thirty tablespoons of challenge. Sprinkle it with a pinch of bet, and add some brotherly competition according to your taste and a slice of one-upmanship. Let it sit and stew, then, at the critical moment, add it to a nightmare-fueled, sleep-deprived inventing binge. Be sure to separate it from any moderating influence, or it won't produce the desired effect. Finally, pour it into a genius, and wait.

Tony crept up the stairs, YSMIR clutched to his chest. Every couple of seconds he had to shush her, because she kept chirping quietly, and that was not how secret spy stuff works!

To be honest, Tony was regretting insisting that using the elevator was also not how secret spy stuff works, because his legs were getting exhausted. At least he was close to the goal.

One more flight, and there he was.

Okay, he was pretty sure that huffing and quietly groaning for a minute wasn’t gonna get him into spy school, either, but he had a weak heart, dammit.

And it wasn’t even for a whole minute. Tony felt proud of himself. He was sure that Bucky would laugh if he told him, but he would also be proud beneath that exterior.

Rhodey wouldn’t even be proud, the bastard.

Okay, here goes nothing.

Tony crept forward in the corridor, still periodically shushing YSMIR. The door to Steve and Bucky’s apartment was cracked open, and Tony shuffled close enough to hear, but not be seen.

“What’s wrong, Buck?” Steve’s voice came, just as Tony reached peak position. Good timing then. Go, team YSMIR!

“Nothin’” Bucky said, and Tony was impressed. His ‘I’m hurt but not admitting it’ voice was _perfect_. Even Tony got a bit concerned, and he knew what was up. He would have to seriously reconsider Bucky’s sincerity when he was trying to get Tony out of the ‘shop. Though, maybe he wouldn’t. Just as a thank you.

“ _Bucky_ ” Steve’s voice was now seriously concerned. “I can see that something is wrong. Please don’t lie to me, I just want to help.”

The couch creaking, and footsteps leading towards the windows opposite the door. In a moment, Bucky came into sight – or, well, his left side did, anyways. He stood turning towards the window, presumably turning his back to Steve, so that Tony could only see the back of his head. His posture was the poster of ‘sad, sad, so sad, but being all self-sacrificing about it’ that Tony was sure every single one of them had down to a T.

“Just leave it, Stevie” Bucky said, gruff. “There’s nothing you can do, anyway. No point in worrying.”

Tony glanced down at YSMIR, but she was silent, her cameras all trained on the sight before them.

“Oh, come on” Steve sounded exasperated. “Did that stop you from worrying ever?”

Bucky didn’t say anything, just turned a bit more away, and Steve would be smelling blood now.

And…

“Bucky, please” Steve walked into Tony’s field of view. “Just… Let me help, okay? Anything, even if I can’t solve it, I’m sure we can find someone who can. Just don’t shut me out, please.”

Ha. This was the Steve they got to know during Bucky’s Winter Wonderland days. From here on, they had this.

“I just-” Bucky started, then sighed and turned around, shoving a hand through his hair. “I just feel like I’m both lonely and done with people, you know? Everyone is different and tiring, but you know I’m not used to being alone. And you’re also different, which is fine, of course you’re different, but that means that spending time with you is also exhausting, having to learn the new Stevie.”

Steve stood still, obviously trying to come up with something comforting and shit, and this was show-time.

“Hey” Tony knocked on the doorframe, shifting YSMIR to one hand, and _ugh, was she heavy_ , then he pushed the door in. “Sorry to interrupt whatever tête-à-tête you’re having, okay, you know what, I’m not sorry, the door was open, that’s practically invitation as far as I’m concerned, don’t leave doors open if you don’t want to be interrupted, is what I’m saying- Hey, what’s wrong?”

Steve turned towards him during his entrance, and Bucky was surreptitiously wiping away a tear. Damn, those acting abilities. Maybe Tony should utilize him more often, then. To get out of board meetings, for example. There was no way even Pepper would be immune to them.

“Tony” Steve said, his whole everything saying, ‘I’m sorry’. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t the best time. Maybe you could come back later?”

“Hey, I’m gonna be quick” Tony threw up the hand not holding YSMIR. “I just wanted to show her to Bucky.”

“Her?” Steve frowned at the same time as Bucky stepped forward.

“What d’you wanna show me, doll?”

“Hey” Tony beamed at him, and he didn’t even have to fake this, he was so gone. Disgusting. “So, I saw how much you liked the bots, and how much they liked you, so I thought I’d make one for you? This is YSMIR” Tony crouched down to put her on the floor, where she rapidly zoomed around, trying to get a feeling of the place. “She’s also a roomba, because, you know, no point making something for one purpose when you can make it for two, or, to be exact, she started out as a roomba but now she can do anything, basically, point is, she’s yours if you want her.”

“Aww, doll” and Bucky’s voice was all chocked up. Was he still faking, or did he start to feel this like Tony? “That’s perfect, thank you. I’d feel bad about keeping her all to myself, though.”

“Well” Tony shrugged, “there’s nothing to say you can’t share her, or whatever. But you seemed a bit lost, she can keep you company. Like a pet.”

“This seems suspiciously well-timed” Steve butted in, and aw, no.

“Don’t question it, Cap” Tony smirked at him, standing up. Still, Steve was visibly gearing up, and Tony prepared himself for the inevitable, but,

“Please, Stevie?” Bucky turned the world’s biggest puppy eyes on Steve. Tony could feel them steaming even this removed from their path, and Steve… Steve visibly melted.

Still,

“Buck-” he tried, because of course he did, he was Steven Grant Rogers, his middle name should have been ‘doesn’t know when to give up’, but, Bucky had apparently learned to navigate him. He just widened his eyes that much more, made his pout more pronounced, and Tony thanked god that it wasn’t turned on him.

Steve sighed, defeated, and looked over to where YSMIR was… chewing on the carpet?

“Fine” he threw his hands up. “She’s already like a damn dog.”

Yaaaay!

Steve and Bucky turned to stare at him.

Oops. Did he say that out loud?

Oh, well. Tony just grinned at them, wide, because Steve had already agreed, and “No taksie-backsies!”

\--------------------

They were gathering for team dinner the next day when YSMIR zoomed in. Tony cringed, because he wasn’t quite ready yet to introduce her to the rest of the team, but that’s what you get when you make sentient robots. Ones who can climb the stairs.

Clint was the first to see her, and he froze, his fork halfway to his mouth.

“Tony” he said slowly. “Did you make a new robot?”

Tony cringed again, as everyone at the table stopped what they were doing and looked as one at YSMIR, who was happily circling around a patch of light on the floor, chirping to herself.

“Uhmm. Yeah?”

“I believe we have agreed on something, Tony” Natasha turned to stare at him, and Tony shrank back in his chair.

He opened his mouth to say something – probably something that would make everything worse, if he knew himself at all – but before he could speak, Steve cut in.

“She’s Bucky’s” he said firmly, looking Natasha in the eyes.

Tony stopped breathing for a moment while they had a silent competition. After a long – _long_ – moment, Natasha nodded.

As one, the atmosphere thawed.

“You see, doll” Bucky leaned in to whisper in his ear, “my plans always work.”

\--------------------

PRESENT DAY, A FEW HOURS EARLIER

“So, YSMIR, what do you say to a game? JARVIS will keep score, won’t you, Jay?”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, kudos and comments keep me writing <3


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